They were all waiting for any news.
Quinn was the first to hear the sound of footsteps moving down the hall, and he jumped to his feet as the doctor rounded the corner.
“Sheriff?”
“Yes!” he practically shouted, waking Callie’s parents. Everyone moved to stand by Quinn in a sign of support that touched him beyond words. He could feel their hands on his shoulders and back, offering him strength.
“I just finished operating on Callista, and I have to tell you that she’s a very lucky woman. The knife missed every artery, including the ones attached to her uterus. For now, she looks like she’s going to pull through this if we can get her through the night. She lost a lot of blood, and stomach wounds are incredibly dangerous when it comes to infection.”
“Okay,” said Quinn slowly, allowing himself to hold onto that glimmer of hope.
“When we received the blood tests back, to get her exact match, we tried extra hard to save her life and the pregnancy.”
Quinn looked like he was slapped. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry. I assumed you knew, as her fiancé. We had no idea that she was pregnant until we saw her hormone levels, and that’s what took so long. We had to move extra slow through the surgery to save her uterus.”
“How far along is she?” he asked, still shocked.
“The levels are barely up. I wouldn’t say more than a week or two, and I can’t promise that she won’t miscarry. That knife did a little damage in there. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn't even know herself. We’re talking a total fluke that we even caught it.”
Quinn didn't know what to say.
He was going to be a father, if Callie and their child pulled through this. Now, he had even more to lose if she died.
“I wouldn’t stress it,” stated the doctor. “It’s ridiculously early in the pregnancy to even know that she’s expecting. Like I said, a nurse caught the HCG level and let me know,” he said, pulling off his paper hat. “We’re moving her up to intensive care for the time being.”
“I need to see her.”
The doctor figured as much. “You can’t all go in at once,” stated the man. “The hospital has rules.”
The agent stepped in. “Doctor, my name is Special Agent Lucas Mars, and I’m telling you that FBI protocol is going to supersede your hospital rules. We all need to be in there, and I know you won’t mind bending the rules on this one. She’s the reason a killer has been brought to justice. The citizens of this town owe her that much.”
The man stared at him, weighing his options. Finally, he backed down. “I’ll make a note in her file. The nurse will be out to get you, once Callista is ready.”
They all moved to the couch.
“I don’t understand,” Quinn said, earning a laugh from Callie’s dad. Where he thought they’d be angry, everyone was just so happy she was alive. Besides, there was no need for a shotgun wedding. He was more than willing to do the right thing.
“Then you need someone to sit you down and explain the birds and the bees to you, son.”
“No, I mean she was on the pill.”
Charlotte touched his hand. “You don’t want children, Quinton?” she asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.
He looked at her as if she was crazy. “Are you kidding? I want a house full of them. I just don’t understand how it happened.”
“She was taking antibiotics,” said Luke, grinning. “They can cancel each other out.”
“Congratulations, Quinn,” said Nate, patting him on the shoulder affectionately. “Can I be there when you drop the bomb on Callie? This is going to be one interesting conversation!” he declared, laughing. “Usually, it’s the woman’s job to tell the man.”
Charlotte took her husband’s hand. “Finally, a grandbaby! It’s about time one of our kids gave us one. I’m not getting any younger here.”
Nate groaned as they hugged enthusiastically.
Quinn still was afraid to get excited.
The woman read his expression easily. “This baby will make it, darlin’. This is one hell of a gene pool,” she said, taking Quinn’s cold hand in hers.
Nate dropped his arm over Quinn’s shoulder. “She’ll pull through, and in ten months, you’ll be back here worrying all over again,” he added.
Quinn allowed the glimmer of enthusiasm to fill him, as love filled his cold empty body for the first time since he found out she was taken.
“A baby,” he said, amazed. “Wow! I can’t wait to tell my family.”
* * *
Friday Afternoon
Two Days Later
Callie felt the drugged-up haze slipping away as she listened to the voices around her. There was laughter and talking, but none of it sounded familiar. Finally, with some effort, she was able to focus on the one she recognized.
Quinn was near, whispering in her ear.
His warm hand held hers, rubbing his fingers across her pulse.
“Come on, baby. You need to wake up. The doctor said you’re getting better every day, and I really need to see your beautiful eyes. I met your mom, and man, she’s a looker.”
He kept talking, just to try and get through to her.
“My family’s here to meet you. I tried to stop them, but when they heard you saved me, they flew in from all over the country. I’ve been told they’re not leaving until you wake up. Don’t make me entertain them alone. Please baby, open your eyes for me,” he whispered, lowering his head to her pillow.
For two days, he’d been trying to coax her from the sleep which was holding her captive. He didn't know how much longer he could take not hearing her voice. It was slowly killing him.
Not wanting him to suffer, Callie opened her eyes. With gentle fingertips, she reached out to touch Quinn’s cheek.
“Baby?” he asked, looking up quickly, his heart leaping.
“Quinn?”
He couldn’t wait any more. His lips found hers in a gentle kiss. When he pulled away, she tried to focus on the room around her. There were a ton of people there, and they all resembled the man she was going to marry.
This was definitely his family.
“I swear! You know how to scare the hell out of a guy,” he said, finally able to smile.
Callie let him drop kisses all over her face.
When he was finally done, her gaze shifted to the people watching her curiously. “You all look alike, so you must be Quinn’s brothers and sisters.”
They all smiled at her with the same grin.
Looking around, she focused on the women. “You must be Meg, and you must be Maura,” she said, obviously getting it right.
“How did you know?” asked Meg suspiciously.
“She looks like she could kick my ass, and you don’t. Sorry, but it’s true,” she said getting a few chuckles from the men. It drew her attention to them. “You must be Quinn’s dad,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The older man moved close, only to lean down and kiss her on the forehead. “Thank you for saving him. I hear you’re an excellent shot.”
Callie found his voice to be soothing. It was warm and rich like Quinn’s. When she tried to move, pain filled her lower body. “Shit,” she muttered.
“Baby, don’t move!” Quinn admonished. “You’ll tear something,” he said, wiping a stray hair from her face. Just the sight of her pale skin and the spreading bruise on her cheek, twisted his stomach into an ugly knot.
Callie focused on the other men watching her curiously. Before she could speak, one had stepped forward, grinning wickedly.
“You guessed the girls, but we bet you can’t tell us apart,” the man challenged. They were trying desperately to lighten the mood. When they got there, Quinn looked like hell, and they hated seeing him suffer. Maybe a little levity would get him to relax.
Callie was up to the challenge, despite being tired. She could see the fear in Quinn’s eyes and knew he needed this. His family would know
him best. “What does Christopher do for a living, Quinn?” she asked.
“He’s a mortgage broker,” he replied, as Callie stared at each one.
“Christopher’s the one in the green shirt,” she answered, hoping that she was right. When he stepped forward, she tried to smile.
“You’re right, but how did you know?” he asked curiously.
“You can tell that you’re the executive by the way you hold yourself. It’s a dead giveaway. You may want to slouch more,” she offered, as he patted her leg affectionately. “What does William do?” she asked Quinn.
“He owns a construction company,” he replied, amused by his woman.
Callie turned her head toward the brother in the white shirt. “You’re William.”
“Yes, ma’am, I am. What gave it away?”
“Your tan did, and by process of elimination, you must be Bryant, Quinn’s youngest brother.”
They all laughed.
Bryant was curious to see if she was really as smart as Quinn had said. “How about we make it a little harder? What do I do for a living? Picking us out was pretty easy. Now, you can really impress me.”
Already, Callie was analyzing his speech and the way he carried himself. “Deal.”
“I’ll up the ante. You’ll get a room full of flowers if you can do it. Despite the ones we owe you for saving Quinn’s ass,” he said, sweetening the pot.
Callie’s gaze flickered around the room to all the brothers. Each had the same brown- blonde hair, but the truth was in their body language. Bryant wasn’t carrying himself like a construction worker, or a banker. His body language mimicked Quinn’s. “You’re in law enforcement.”
Everyone laughed and Bryant just looked surprised.
“I can even tell you where you’re from,” offered Callie, as she struggled to sit. Immediately, the love of her life came to her aid.
Quinn warned his brother, “Bryant, she was one of the top profilers for the FBI for a reason.”
“I’m in. We’ll call it double or nothing, that you can’t pinpoint it.”
Callie liked a challenge “I’m going to say it’s definitely the north. Your accent is muted but not strong enough to be from New York or Boston, so maybe s mid-Atlantic state. Your accent reminds me of one I’d find in the Baltimore area, so I’m going with Maryland or the DC metro area.”
He only shook his head in disbelief. “What kind of flowers do I owe you?”
“I’m really fond of lilies, and lots of them. Just ask your brother.”
Everyone laughed.
“Will you tell me everything that happened, Quinn?” she asked, holding his hand.
“Yeah, baby, I will. Let me get rid of the soon to be in-laws,” he said, turning to the family. “Beat it. I need to talk to my fiancée.”
They all kissed Callie goodbye before heading back to his house. Quinn promised to head home later to get some dinner and a shower, before returning to the hospital.
Before long, they were finally alone.
“I met your momma, and she’s drop dead gorgeous.”
Callie laughed and there was pain. “Crap!” she muttered, taking a deep breath, before continuing, “I bet she fell in love with you immediately, especially if you told her that.”
“Oh, yeah, baby, she loves me.” He lowered his lips to hers for a second. “Hey! I have something for you first,” he added, reaching into his pocket. When he pulled out Callie’s engagement ring, he slid it back onto her finger.
“Ellen took it as a souvenir before she gagged me.”
Quinn looked sick to his stomach. “I’m so sorry, baby. I was almost too late. They could have killed you.”
“Yeah, but we saved each other. That’s what couples do, darlin’.” Callie brushed her thumb delicately over his lower lip. “What happened to the other two?”
“They admitted to the entire thing and have been charged with kidnapping, religious hate crimes, attempted murder, and six counts of homicide.”
“That should keep them in jail for life.”
“Yeah, and then some. They aren’t coming back,” he reassured softly. “The reverend is so embarrassed by what his wife has done, that he’s leaving the town to go to another state. Plus, once the word of his infidelity leaked out, he was done here.”
“I can’t say that I’m sorry to hear that. In a way, he’s responsible. He cheated on her and was so hardcore religious, that he pounded the Bible into his wife’s head. He was the one who preached an eye for an eye. He deserves to be driven out of town, so I really have no sympathy.”
“I know, baby.”
“He handed his wife the weapon to kill those women and Susie. It may only have been words, but they are just as dangerous and damaging.”
“I reinstated Jimmy Lee,” he added, to change the subject when he saw the unshed tears for Susie’s death. “He came by to see you and to thank you for clearing him.”
“I like him, Quinn. He’s just young. We all make mistakes at that age.”
Didn't he know it? He was still making mistakes, like letting her out of his sight. “Ed has filed for divorce, and you’d think he’d be thrilled, but he looks like he’s sad. It’s hard to explain.”
Callie smiled. “Maybe under all that cheatin’ and sleeping around, he really did love her.”
It was Quinn’s turn to smile. “I think maybe you’re right.”
He didn't know how to broach what was coming.
“Callie, I think we need to talk. I found something out and I’m not sure if you’re going to be happy or not.”
“Just say it, Quinn, and we’ll get through it.”
He sighed. He didn’t want to remind her about her friend, but it seemed to be inevitable. “Susie had a will, and her lawyer contacted me yesterday.”
“Okay, what did he say?”
“She wanted to be cremated and have her ashes tossed into the ocean off the shore of some island.”
“I’m with you so far, Quinn.”
“I didn’t know when you’d wake up, so I had her cremated yesterday.”
Callie looked confused. “How could you authorize that? Did she have any other family?”
“No, baby, you were named as sole beneficiary, and they weren’t sure you’d make it, so as sheriff, I stepped in.”
“Sole beneficiary?”
“Yeah, the store, the house, and all the trinkets that goes with it.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, grief creeping back over her again.
“I figured that we could take her ashes with us on our honeymoon and toss them in the sea. As for the business, I don’t know what you want to do with it.”
Callie pondered it. “I know what I’ll do with it. Laura Wilkes needs a fresh start, and I bet she’d make a perfect manager for ‘The Herb Pot’.”
He looked down at his angel. Even hurt as bad as she was, her first thought was to help someone else who was grieving, instead of herself. “That sounds like an amazing idea.”
“We don’t really need the property.” This brought her to something that she needed to address.
“Why do you look worried?” he asked.
“Quinn, I need to tell you something,” she said, hoping that he wouldn’t get upset.
“About being pregnant?” he asked.
“What?” she replied, shocked that he knew.
He explained it all, telling her how he found out.
Callie wished she could have told him. After all, now, she missed seeing the look on his face. “Yeah, I thought I was.”
“Excuse me?”
“I went to the drugstore to buy a pregnancy test the morning I was following you into town.”
“Oh, did you take a test?”
“No, it was way too early. I wanted to talk to the pharmacist and get some details first. I ended up buying one, just for future use. It’s in my glove compartment.”
He didn't have words for how excited he was. Now, he only needed to know one thing. “How did you figure it
out?” Quinn asked.
“The day Susie called to tell me about the plants, she told me.”
Quinn couldn’t be happier. “Can I say that I’m really excited, and today is the happiest day in my life?” he admitted.
“Well, you may not be because I still have to bring something up.”
He stared at her. A million things went through his mind. “Why do I feel like I need to sit down?” he asked, taking a seat beside her bed.
“I’ve made a decision, Quinn, and it affects all of us.”
Okay, now the worry was full-blown dread.
“Am I going to lose my mind?” he asked, praying that she wasn’t going to tell him that she wasn’t marrying him.
“That may depend.”
“Callie, just spit it out,” he stated. The stress of the last few days was killing him, and his stomach lining.
Soon, he’d need medication.
“I’ve decided that I’m going back to the FBI. I really can’t live here anymore. It’s filled with memories of what happened, and what could have happened.”
He stared at her, wordlessly.
“I’m sorry, Quinn.”
His heart began breaking. “What about us?” he asked, his eyes filling with emotion.
Callie swallowed. “I’m going to ask something so huge of you, that if you tell me no, I’ll try and figure out a way to make us work. Please come with me, Quinn. I don’t want a life without you, but the ghosts here will eat away at me. I know I have no right to ask you to leave your home and give up your life, but please don’t call off our marriage. Start the adventure with me, by my side.”
He still said nothing, weighing all the options in his mind. He made the vow, that if he got a second chance, he’d follow her to the Arctic Circle.
“I love you more than anything in life. Please love me enough to begin this journey with me, Quinton. Take a chance with me.”
When he stood, she was sure that he was leaving the room. Her heart seemed to stutter in her chest.
“I’ll never leave your side again, Callista. I don’t care if it’s on an iceberg, as long as I’m with you and our baby.”
Sinner Repent Page 46